DEEP DIVE: New York City Ban on Certain Laundry and Dishwasher Pods Spurs Discussion

Whether a ban on laundry and dishwasher pods will wash with residents of New York City remains to be seen, but a bill to prohibit the sale of pods and sheets using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA or PVOH; the OH is the alcohol group when expressed in a chemical formula) was introduced by District 24 Council Member James F. Gennaro on 8 February 2024.

Known as the Pods Are Plastic Bill, the proposed legislation is “a prohibition on the sale of laundry and dishwasher pods and sheets using polyvinyl alcohol.” It not only prohibits the sale of laundry and dishwasher pods and sheets that include PVA/PVOH, it also requires education and outreach to retail and wholesale businesses on compliance with the requirements of the law. The bill – co-sponsored by Gennaro and council members Lincoln Restler, Alexa Avilés, and Erik D. Bottcher – was referred to the Committee on Environmental Protection, Resiliency, and Waterfronts for further discussion. Gennaro chairs that committee, and Restler and Avilés are members.